Brazil's striker Romario, member of the 1994 World Cup winning
team, will play for and coach Vasco da Gama in the South American
Cup's semifinals on Wednesday, announced club president Eurico
Miranda on Monday.
The decision was released to the press only two hours after the
announcement of the removal of team manager Celso Roth from his
position.
"Roth did a very good job at Vasco, but we scored only five
points in the past few games (in the Brazilian league)," said
Miranda, using Vasco's current position in the national league to
justify his decision. The team is ranked 12th on the list of 20
teams.
"Romario will take the responsibility over this match. He will
play and be the coach," announced the Vasco president, adding that
the striker will only do that in the game on Mexico's Club America,
on Wednesday in Rio. On Thursday, Miranda stressed, a new manager
will be announced.
Romario, 41, expressed his interest in coaching a team after he
scored his 1,000th goal as a player in May. However, he does not
have a professional coaching license, and Vasco's physical trainer
Mauro Brito will need to officially back him up in the semifinal
game, signing the formal papers.
The local press speaks of several possibilities of names as
Roth's definitive replacement. The most rated of them is Antonio
Lopes, who coached Vasco on several other occasions, winning three
state championship titles, a regional title, a Brazilian League
title (1997) and a Libertadores Cup title (1998).
(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2007)